Deeper Dive: Our Top Tested Picks
Best Overall
Zoom Workplace
- Competitive price
- Advanced Zoom AI Companion
- Many integrations
- End-to-end encryption
- Easy to use
- Poor spelling and grammar correction in Zoom Docs
Zoom Meetings is now just one part of Zoom Workplace, a unified communication and collaboration platform that provides document editing, team chat, whiteboard sharing, and more. It aims to reduce the “toggle tax” that occurs when you switch between multiple applications. Zoom’s industry-leading AI Assistant can even summarize in-progress meetings and answer any questions you might have about what another participant said earlier.
Between its superb core video conferencing features and advanced collaboration tools, Zoom is the best all-around video conferencing platform we’ve tested. The free tier is workable, though businesses should prepare to pay for a premium plan to get the most out of it.
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Zoom Workplace Review
Best for Enterprise Conferencing
Webex by Cisco
- Intuitive interface
- Powerful application sharing and whiteboard features
- Cloud recording included
- Real-time transcription
- Breakout rooms
- Cool and useful Reactions feature
- Real-time translation costs extra
- Relatively expensive
- Limited to 10GB of cloud storage
One of the most mature video conferencing solutions on our list, Webex has been around in one form or another since 1995. Now owned by Cisco, it has the unique distinction of enjoying the benefits of integration with the networking giant’s rich ecosystem of tools, hardware, and smart conference room systems. As a result, it’s the go-to solution for some of the Fortune 500’s most prominent names.
Don’t assume you need a huge headcount to use Webex. While it has a few pricing gotchas compared with some other services, it’s fully capable of scaling from small businesses to large enterprises and everything in between. So, if your priorities are solid support and a near-unlimited capacity for growth, Webex could be the ideal choice.
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Webex by Cisco Review
Best for Ease of Use
Intermedia AnyMeeting
- Approachable design
- Lets you share your screen within a browser
- Annotation and automatic transcription abilities
- Enables keyboard and mouse sharing
- Excellent customer service
- Lacks breakout rooms
- Chats tab can get confusing when multiple attendees are typing at once
Intermedia AnyMeeting is an attractive, easy-to-use service that’s packed with enough features to suit any organization. We especially liked its AI-powered Virtual Assistant, which delivers reasonably high-quality transcriptions of video meetings and can even flag action items based on what’s said during the call. And, as comprehensive as it is, AnyMeeting’s pricing is on par with most of its competitors.
If you feel comfortable with its user interface and controls, AnyMeeting is hard to beat. The one caveat is that it lacks certain webinar-oriented features, such as breakout rooms.
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Intermedia AnyMeeting Review
Best Free Tier
RingCentral Video
- Attendees can join calls without installing software
- No account required to participate in calls
- Generous free plan
- Apps for all major platforms, including the web
- Can easily switch devices during a video call
- No Q&A moderator tools, mouse/keyboard sharing
- No unique URL for account sign in
- Clumsy task management
RingCentral is well-respected for its business communication technologies, most notably its voice-over-IP (VoIP) solution. RingCentral Video is its entry into the video conferencing market, and while it’s playing catch-up to some of the more established players, it’s still a solid offering. One appealing feature is its generous free pricing tier, which lets you conduct meetings with up to 100 attendees and lasting as long as 24 hours at a time.
If you’re looking for a video conferencing solution that’s well-integrated with a business VoIP system, RingCentral is an excellent choice. Both functions are built into the same app, with an appealing user interface. Also, it delivers more at no cost than any other system we looked at. Be aware, though, that it doesn’t yet deliver all the capabilities of more mature competitors.
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RingCentral Video Review
Best for Google Workspace Users
Google Meet
- Accessible entirely from a web browser
- State-of-the-art transcription and recording tools
- Real-time translated captions in 69 languages
- High-quality audio and video
- Extensive annotation tools available during screen-sharing
- Requires Google Workspace for Business and Gemini subscriptions for the full experience
- Lacks native whiteboard tools
- No monthly plan
Google Meet is an excellent general-purpose video conferencing platform that’s accessible from virtually any device. Its real-time transcription feature is top-notch and supports more languages than any competitor. The platform offers extensive Gemini AI assistance, albeit via an add-on. Tight integrations with other Google tools make it especially attractive to Google Workspace users.
Google Meet is a no-brainer if you use Google Workspace for online collaboration. It’s very reliable and easy to use.
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Google Meet Review
Best for Small Business Web Meetings
GoToMeeting
- Works on all platforms
- Useful smart assistant
- Unlimited cloud recording
- Annotation during screen sharing
- Virtual backgrounds require a separate, free product
- Lacks whiteboard functionality
GoToMeeting is a mature video conferencing solution from GoTo, the company formerly known as LogMeIn. It offers a good balance between features and cost, and it includes competitive features like smart transcription and unlimited recording to the cloud. It also integrates with Google Workspace and Microsoft 365 calendars.
As a standalone video conferencing solution, GoToMeeting is a dependable offering, but it lacks some features you’d want for general-purpose video meetings. It’s best suited for use cases like webinars, contact centers, and remote IT management, especially when paired with GoTo’s other software for those markets.
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GoToMeeting Review
Best for Webinar and Event Hosts
ClickMeeting
- Clear interface
- Supports massive audiences
- Whiteboard and breakout room features
- AI-powered automatic transcription
- Mobile apps can cut off whiteboard views
- No phone support and limited chat hours
Unlike most of the video conferencing solutions we’ve tested, ClickMeeting specializes in large online meetings and webinars. It claims to support up to 10,000 participants at its custom enterprise tier, but even its more basic plans can scale up to 1,000 attendees. The service has an accessible and sleek interface, making it a sound choice for any company looking to reach a mass audience.
If you need to conduct online training sessions or webinars, ClickMeeting should be on your shortlist. It focuses on these types of events rather than peer-to-peer and small team collaboration.
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ClickMeeting Review
Best for Microsoft 365 Customers
Microsoft Teams
- Highly customizable
- Tightly integrated with other Microsoft Office apps
- Plentiful integration options
- Included with Microsoft 365 business accounts and Windows 11
- Most effective in a Microsoft-centric environment
- Compartmentalized design may inhibit open dialogue
- Can be difficult to find the conversations you need
Microsoft has a pattern of steadily piling features into its products, and Teams is no different. It has risen from humble beginnings to become a team collaboration behemoth and a core part of the Microsoft 365 suite. More importantly, unlike some competitors (such as Slack), it’s also a full-featured video conferencing system that’s suitable for far more than one-to-one video calls.
Die-hard Microsoft shops should take note: If you’re already using Teams—and particularly if you’re a Microsoft 365 customer—it may be all the video conferencing software you need. On the other hand, if you’re not all-in on the Microsoft way of doing things, and all you want is video conferencing, we recommend you look elsewhere.
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Microsoft Teams Review
Best for Cheap Video Meetings
Zoho Meeting
- Inexpensive
- Up to 25 simultaneous video feeds
- Supports virtual backgrounds
- Includes reactions
- Useful AI-powered transcriptions and insights
- Complicated AI setup
- Requires additional downloads to access necessary features
- Demands investment in the greater Zoho ecosystem
While it lacks the bells and whistles of some of its competitors, Zoho Meetings’ appeal lies in its low price. Unlike many of the services in our roundup, it offers a free tier that lets you host meetings for up to 100 attendees. It also integrates seamlessly with the rest of the Zoho business software suite.
Zoho would like to be your one-stop shop for business apps, and if you’ve already bought into the broader Zoho ecosystem, you should give Zoho Meetings a look. It could also meet your needs if you’re on a particularly tight budget. However, when using it as a standalone solution, you may find you can get more bang for your buck elsewhere.
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Zoho Meeting Review
Buying Guide: The Best Video Conferencing Software for 2025
What Is Video Conferencing Software?
Video conferencing software continues to evolve. Initially, it was available only in the form of pricey conference room systems that combined specific hardware and software. Now, however, popular cloud-based services require little dedicated infrastructure and largely work within a browser.
Contemporary video conferencing systems have a cornucopia of capabilities that their predecessors never did. Best-in-class video conferencing services offer broadcasting modes for passive viewers (also known as webinars), digital whiteboard collaboration, file exchange, remote desktop access, screen sharing, text chat, and more. Additionally, some services integrate with business voice over IP (VoIP) packages, enabling users to convert voice calls to video calls or initiate a shared meeting at the touch of a button without interrupting the original connection.
(Credit: Getty/Ariel Skelley )
How Much Does Video Conferencing Software Cost?
Like most software-as-a-service (SaaS), video conferencing providers offer multiple pricing tiers. The lowest tier is free for many of the services we test. These offerings are great for connecting with friends and family and for occasional business use. However, they have limited features and place restrictions on how long meetings can be and how many people can attend. Organizations that plan to use video conferencing as an everyday tool should invest in a paid service.
Among the services we reviewed, the median pricing for business-grade service is around $13 per user per month. Most also offer more expensive tiers for enterprises. As usual, the greater your needs, the more you should expect to pay.
Although most services charge by the number of users, others charge by the number of hosts. Services that charge per host are generally primarily for webinars, in which only a host can initiate a meeting (and meetings typically have many attendees). On the other hand, services that charge per person are usually for peer-to-peer usage, in which anyone can start a meeting.
What Can Video Conferencing Software Do for You?
Video conferencing has quickly become an essential business tool, particularly given the rise of remote work. The products in this roundup all offer video calls via webcam, typically alongside several other features, such as text chat.
Understanding what constitutes a video conferencing platform can be confusing since some team messaging platforms, like Microsoft Teams and Slack, offer the same features. Teams offers a complete video conferencing solution, which is why we include it. Slack and some of its competitors just have person-to-person video calling, so they don’t make the list. The solutions we’ve reviewed here can all support multi-party video meetings.
Beyond video calling, you likely want a few additional capabilities. Screen sharing is essential for presentations. You may also want to look for more granular options, such as the ability to share just one application, document, or image rather than the entire desktop. Many packages also support video annotation and virtual whiteboards, which foster participant collaboration.
Most of the video conferencing services in this roundup also offer a text chat mode during meetings and sometimes outside of video calls.
Many services offer automated recording that you can initiate with the press of a button. Typically, they save recordings to cloud storage and automatically share them with all meeting attendees. If you think this is a feature you will use often, make sure the service tier you choose offers sufficient storage capacity. Alternatively, you can integrate it with your existing third-party cloud storage provider.
Recently, video conferencing vendors started to aggressively introduce artificial intelligence (AI) to their systems. Applications include analytics and optimization, automatic call summaries and transcription, call scheduling, facial recognition, noise cancellation, and more.
What Equipment Do You Need for Video Conferencing?
Beyond the video conferencing software, you should also consider the hardware you need. Fortunately, almost every modern laptop, tablet, and smartphone has an integrated microphone and a serviceable (if fairly mediocre) camera. Many modern laptops and higher-end mobile devices ship with high-quality 1080p webcams.
Desktop PCs, on the other hand, typically require additional hardware. If you’re looking for crisp sound or video quality, you need the best microphone and high-end webcam you can get. Some business monitors also come with built-in video conferencing features. You can use some digital cameras as a webcam, too.
For most use cases, consumer-grade hardware is all you need. Then again, if you want the highest possible video quality for webinars and client meetings, you might need to buy extra lighting accessories.
Although these hardware purchases drive up the total cost of your video conferencing deployment, you still save compared with old-school, end-to-end conferencing solutions. You don’t need to make a huge capital outlay all at once. Instead, you can buy the licenses you need and add new seats as necessary, a method that can dramatically reduce costs.
Recommended by Our Editors
How to Buy Video Conferencing Software
At first glance, choosing the right video conferencing service for your organization can seem challenging because most offer the same basic features. But you still need to evaluate several factors before making your decision. Assessing the software’s overall user experience (UX) is a good place to start.
In each review, we discuss the ease of signing up, creating a meeting, inviting participants, and setting up audio and video controls. We also look at the UX from a meeting invitees’ point of view and how easy it is to access smart meeting controls, such as annotation, file sharing, virtual assistants, and whiteboard-style collaboration.
We’ve also tested each service’s prominent features, but it’s up to you to decide which ones you need most. For example, do you need dial-in numbers, VoIP integration, or both? How about features like screen sharing or remote control? Some services offer teleconferencing with dial-in numbers (local or toll-free) and VoIP calling, while others provide just one or the other. A few offer international dial-in numbers.
During our testing, we hosted and joined meetings to evaluate the experience of registered and non-registered users. We made sure to outline how easy it is to join a meeting, including whether a participant needs to download software before joining (which could cause a delay or even be a deal breaker). Other services simply require that attendees enter a code to access the meeting.
Our reviews also cover the host’s administration features. The best services let you set up various types of meetings, such as lecture-style calls in which all participants are on mute or a Q&A mode in which presenters can mute and unmute participants as necessary. Other options include allowing break-out sessions, creating a waiting room while preparing for the meeting, locking latecomers out of a meeting, and turning webcams on and off.
Most of these services offer at least a 30-day free trial, so you can test the product that looks most attractive to you. Make sure to include relevant stakeholders in your decision-making process, both within and outside your organization. With careful consideration, you’re sure to arrive at a cost-effective solution that can handle all of your needs and is easy to use.
